Pollution worsens global warming

Washington  New evidence shows man-made pollution has "contributed substantially" to global warming and the earth is likely to get a lot hotter than previously predicted, a United Nations-sponsored panel of hundreds of scientists finds.

The conclusions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the most authoritative scientific voice on the issue, is expected to widely influence climate debate over the next decade.

The report's summary, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, was being distributed to government officials worldwide.

It is the first full-scale update of climate science since 1995 when the same panel concluded there is "a discernible human influence" on the earth's climate because of the so-called "greenhouse" effect caused by the buildup of heat-trapping chemicals in the atmosphere.

Today, the panel says in its new assessment that "there is stronger evidence" yet on the human influence on climate and that it is likely that manmade greenhouse gases already have contributed substantially to global warming.